


Zosi Decides Bedtime

by GetDreamy



Series: The Grim of the Society for Arcane Science [1]
Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic)
Genre: Betaed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Henry Jekyll is bad at self-care, Pets, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, self-care, stubborn Zosi, stubborn pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29922942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GetDreamy/pseuds/GetDreamy
Summary: Zosi is tired of his owner staying up all night and not taking care of himself, so he decides to take the matter into his own paws.//Originally posted on my Tumblr blog @ Bansheeoftheforest and betaread by @ Ineffable-idjit//
Series: The Grim of the Society for Arcane Science [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2206272
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Zosi Decides Bedtime

Laying in the fluffy dog bed near his master’s desk, Zosi watched as said master wrote line after line after line on the paperwork before him, sometimes softly cursing under his breath when the ink smudged onto the paper or when he realized he wrote something wrong. Those soft curses became more and more frequent as the night went on. Zosi, of course, was not very aware of day and night. Every day-or-night instinct he had in his life was long since gone after he got buried into the walls of his old church, and sleep wasn’t something he needed either, but he did know that his owner very much did so.

Glancing out the small window right under the ceiling, the small dog watched the moonlight pour through the glass and into the sparsely lit office. He wasn’t very sure what time it was but it seemed to be close to midnight. After all, midnight to 3 in the morning was the time he was supposed to be the most alert and awake, with witching hour and all such, but what did confuse him was the fact that his owner should have gone to bed hours ago. His attention quickly shifted to said master as he let out a breath of quite colourful curses as he spilt his inkpot all over the report he was doing, which was due tomorrow.

It was clear the man was tired; he had long since ditched most of his layers, only keeping his button-up shirt, his pants and the socks on his feet, and his hair was as much of a wild mess as Zosi’s fur was after a particular dispute between him and Mr Griffin’s -at the time, quite electric- cat. No, Zosi was not very happy that his owner was still awake. He did know that his master rarely stayed around at night, only retreating to his office during the evening after having said goodnight to his friends. Then he would make sure that Zosi was contently locked into his bedroom before doing god knows what, and then returning and letting Zosi out in the morning. Now, however, he was actually in his office with Zosi by his side, and it unnerved the little dog. If he was at home, why was he not sleeping?

Zosi let out a soft huff, whimpering softly as he placed his head on his front paws. He watched the neo-alchemist intensely. The man needed sleep, so much was obvious, because the dark circles under his eyes had gone from the look of missing an hour or two of sleep to the impression that the doctor had ended up in a dispute with Frankenstein’s monster. No, this could not continue, Zosi decided. He was going to take the matter into his own, skeletal paws to make sure his owner did not work himself to death. The man’s aura was already feeling deathly ill as it was, what with his mental health and the fact that his other soul was nothing more than a ball of existential dread and depression at the moment. What had happened to make that soul that way, Zosi didn’t know. He just knew that his owner was split, only ever letting the other part out but during the evenings as Zosi had observed, having seen the souls through the wall between the office and bedroom, and last time Dr Jekyll came home, the other soul had seemed to creep into unconsciousness. However, the grim’s short attention span was then back at his owner, just a few moments later.

Zosimos got out of his comfy bedding before stretching, yawning a little and then ruffling his fur to prepare himself for the fight that was about to happen. His bed was placed on top of a chest right by the side of his owner’s desk, as Dr. Jekyll liked being able to glance back at his fluffy, undead companion in time of need or just to make sure that Zosi was where he should be, and while jumping down from the chest always dreaded the short-legged dog, making him want to get it over with quickly, he didn’t mind waiting a bit so he could observe his owner perfectly well.

Dr. Jekyll looked up from his papers for the first time since he started them as he heard his companion’s paws hit the floor. He smiled softly when he saw the dog’s beady, red eyes staring right up at him before the terrier determinedly marched towards the doctor’s leg, before yipping and sinking his teeth into the fabric of the black pants, huffing as he tried to drag the leg with him towards the door to the doctor’s bedroom.

“Aww, do you want some attention, Zosimos?” The doctor cooed, seemingly not getting the hint, while gently scratching the black dog behind his ears. As if on command, and much to Zosi’s annoyance, he let the pant leg go as his back leg began to stomp on the ground. The spot behind his ears was his weak spot, and Dr. Jekyll knew that perfectly well. The dog didn’t have much time to think about it, however, as he was also quickly picked up and put on Dr. Jekyll’s lap, who’s hand was currently stroking the dog’s back comfortingly; careful not to nudge against any open spots of flesh or bones. Zosi immediately began to calm and doze against the warm, slender fingers of his master before he realized what he was supposed to do, immediately shooting up again and turning around, forcefully putting his front paws against his owner’s chest, huffing. The doctor didn’t seem to get that hint very well either and instead picked Zosimos up again, holding him like a baby against his chest while pressing kisses against the dead dog’s snout.

“I’m not giving you enough attention, eh? Na, that wouldn't dae ony guid fur ye.” The doctor murmured softly, before yawning and then seemingly realizing what he had just said, blinking in shock. He leaned back against the back of his chair and groaned loudly. He hadn’t slipped into that accent since he had made an attempt to train Jasper in manners, and apparently, he was that tired now too. However, he still couldn’t help but to anxiously glance at all the papers in front of him. The thick, bright red markings of _**Past Due**_ felt like they burnt into his eyes. No, he had no time for rest. He could rest once the exh-... Oh right. That.

Before he could start his little anxious episode, Zosi gave out a soft yip. He blinked once more at being caught off guard before he looked down at the dog, who was still babied into his arms. To his surprise, it almost looked like Zosimos was glaring at him, however, that only lasted for a split second before the glare turned into what looked to be more determined. This time, the church grim moved out of the babying grip and instead put his skeletal front paw against the doctor’s shoulder, licking said doctor’s cheek and then buffing his head against it while trying to get the doctor to look where he was ‘pointing’ with his snout a second later. Dr. Jekyll looked as confused as he felt before he turned to look at what Zosi was trying to point at. His eyebrow rose as he stared at his bedroom door. “What is it now, Zosi?”

The terrier didn’t respond, obviously, and instead, he just climbed up on his owner’s shoulder and took a big leap down to the floor, turning back to look at the brown-haired man, who know was clutching the shoulder that just got used as a jumping mat. Zosi continued to nudge his snout and lift his paw in the direction of the bedroom door, desperately hoping that his master would get the hint. Zosi was a smart dog, after all, and he very well could communicate his needs if he wished… He just had no voice to use for all other occasions; where he instead wanted his owner to actually take care of themselves.

“You want to go to the bedroom?” The red-eyed man asked, a bit unsure. Zosi’s tail wagged before he turned and did his best to point at his owner with his skeletal paw. “You want… Me to go to the bedroom?” The man tried again, and this time, the little terrier barked and wagged his tail harder. The brown-haired man almost thought the joints would break at the sheer force. His attention was then at the terrier’s head as he tilted it and nudged it against the small window in the room. Oh wow. It really was late at this point.

“Are you really trying to get me to bed?” the doctor looked as sceptical as he sounded, turning in his chair fully while he put his arms on his backrest and then placed his head on top of those. The dog barked once more. The doctor was quite happy that he had made sure -and tested!- that his office was basically soundproofed, otherwise he would have worried that the little dog would wake the Lodgers up… Or alert them. Zosi was a very expressional but also very quiet dog, so hearing him suddenly barking like mad would definitely alert the Lodgers who had their room closest to Jekyll’s.

“Alright, alright, fine. You got me.” The man chuckled softly, glancing at all of his papers before sighing. He could ask Robert for help tomorrow… Yeah, that sounded good. Robert had told the doctor thousands of times that he just needed to ask if he wanted help with paperwork, after all… And with that thought, Jekyll blew out the candles on his desk, before slowly dragging himself up from his chair. He could hear his joints pop like firecrackers and he couldn’t help but groan as he stretched. He didn’t get a lot of time to do just that though, as Zosi began to yip impatiently again. “Yes, yes, I’m coming, I’m coming.” he sighed, a soft smile on his lips, before he let Zosi lead him towards his bedroom door. He pushed it open with a groan and chuckled at how quickly the little terrier climbed the wooden steps to get up on the bed, placing himself on the thick duvet. The doctor had asked one of the Lodgers to help him design a little staircase for the terrier so that Zosi would be able to easily get up and down from the bed as he wished, and the terrier wasted no time in using them as much as he could.

He felt the church grim staring at him impatiently as the doctor changed out of his last sets of clothes and into a nightgown. Now when he was up and moving and didn’t have to focus on all of his papers, he truly felt how the exhaustion began to dread his weakened body. The whole ordeal with Frankenstein, the exhibition and everything Hyde had gotten into had certainly left the poor doctor with no time or energy to take care of himself, so it was with a heavy ‘oof’ that he allowed himself to fall on his bed. Zosi immediately crawled up and curled up against him as the doctor adjusted himself and laid down on his side, letting the small dog use his arm as a pillow while the doctor himself hugged the small dog against his body. Zosi had been his companion for long enough that the doctor knew that he didn’t have to worry about hurting the undead terrier, especially since the dog couldn’t die nor get hurt due to his… Zombie-like state, but he still made sure that Zosimos would be able to move if he wished.

Softly, the doctor yawned before nuzzling against his newly washed pillows, with Zosi following suit; nuzzling against his master’s arm before letting a soft yawn escape. The dog didn’t need to sleep, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to. So, as his little plan had worked out perfectly, the church grim and the neo-alchemist fell into a deep sleep, and while it would certainly worry Robert, Rachel and Jasper that neither the doctor nor his dog would be seen by noon like usual, they certainly would not mind their absence, when they finally would find the doctor and the church grim asleep, resting peacefully.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> First-ever oneshot I publish! Sorry for any weird formatting, and please go check out my Tumblr @ Bansheeoftheforest if you want to see more or give requests :)


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